Page 73 of Next Level
“That son of a bitch, no good—”
Cherry interrupts him. “Dad, tell me what happened today when you saw him.”
“We’re done. Garrett Jones is not our son. He wants to change his name to Casso and withdraw all his money from the trust. He says George is going to handle all his legal matters. He wants nothing to do with any of us. So, we’re done. Your mom is, of course, devastated, but fuck that, I’m over his shit. He has run this family through the ringer for too long. He took that sweet girl. He’s no son of mine. I’m washing my hands of him today.”
I hear a woman speaking in the background, telling him to calm down.
“Mom?” Cherry says into the phone.
“Hi, honey.” A sweet woman’s voice rings through the speaker. “You all right, sweetie?”
“Yeah, just shaken up,” Cherry replies in a soft voice.
“What did that bastard have to say?” her dad grunts.
“He threatened me, Samantha, and Ray.”
Her mother gasps, and her father curses.
I decide to speak up. “Don’t worry, Mr. and Mrs. Jones. She’s in good hands here. We won’t let anything happen to her or my daughter again.”
The phone goes silent.
Nervous that I said something wrong, I say, “I’m sor—” but was cut off.
“Son, we should be apologizing to you for what happened. Garrett is not right in the head, and to be honest, never has been. We were devastated when we heard what had happened. How is she?” her dad rambles
“Dad, it’s not your fault,” Cherry fires off, defending them.
“No, sir, it isn’t anyone’s fault but Garrett’s and Jared’s,” I admit.
“We feel sorry for the poor boy Jared. Garrett pulled him into his vendetta against your family. Now he’s lost more than ever,” Cherry’s mom says softly, then adds, “And please call us Theo and Marge.”
“Mom, Dad, what else did Garrett want from you guys while you were there?” Cherry asks, folding her arms across her chest.
“There was nothing else. Just what I already told you,” her dad answers.
Dawg has been on his phone texting. I’m sure he’s filling in Zoom on the new information we just found out.
“Okay, thank you. When are you headed back home?” Cherry continues.
“We’re headed to the cabin. We told the Port Angeles detectives we’d let them look around before we cleaned up. Then we’ll head back to Arizona unless you want us to come see you before,” Theo tells her.
“No, I have a conference coming up soon, but I’ll come see you after that. Thank you, I love you guys,” she says cheerfully.
They both say goodbye to me and tell Cherry they love her before ending the call.
The three of us stand there in silence for a few seconds.
Dawg speaks first. “George is either using Garrett to get his money, or they are using the money to plan something, but either way, that money is the key.”
Cherry and I both agree.
“Let’s not let this ruin our night,” I say, reaching for Cherry. “Are you all right?”
She nods.
“Are you going to be all right?” Dawg asks me from across the desk.
